RABON, Israel (AP) — It was a day filled with joy and tears across Israel. Families, loved ones and friends waited anxiously for Hamas to begin. Free the last living hostage He had been imprisoned in the Gaza Strip for more than two years.
For Alon Ohel’s family, it was the 738th day since he was taken hostage.
When the young music lover’s friends saw a photo of him among the seven hostages on a livestream, they jumped to their feet, cheered, blew the shofar (a traditional horn used to herald good tidings) and hugged each other. Hamas was first released to the Red Cross on Monday morning.
“This is the best morning of my life. I just want to hug him,” said Oher’s cousin, Norm Rosen, 24, before his voice choked up.
Waiting in a village on a hill in Galilee
Hundreds of people packed into the small community center of this hilltop village in Galilee before dawn to prepare for one of the most important days of their lives. the last 20 living hostages They were scheduled to be released first to the Red Cross and then to the Israeli army. Ceasefire in Israel-Hamas war.
“Many months ago, I said to God, ‘If Aaron comes back, I will bring him the shofar and I will thank him for that,'” said Yaniv Shema Zion, who has known Ohel since he was a toddler.
Wearing T-shirts with Ohel’s picture on them, the people of Lavon waved flags, sang hymns, hugged each other and wiped away tears before falling into silence in front of a screen showing images of the liberation from Gaza.
“We knew Aron and there was no way we wouldn’t take him home,” said his aunt Nirit Ohel, adding that the family was still worried about his health.
On October 7, 2023, Alon Ohel received shrapnel in his eye during an attack on the air raid shelter in southern Israel where he was taking refuge.
Endless days chained
Ohel was kidnapped from a mobile bomb shelter at the Nova Music Festival. Murdered Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg PollinConfined in August 2024.
Eli Shalabianother hostage held with Ohel and released under an earlier ceasefire, said he remained chained and was fed only one moldy pita bread per day.
Ohel became a symbol of the hostage crisis thanks to his piano playing. At his mother’s initiative, pianos have been installed in his honor across the country, including next to Jerusalem City Hall and in Tel Aviv’s square where the hostages were commemorated.
“She wanted people to play and send him love through it,” Nirit Ohel said.
The plight of the hostages
The fate of the 251 hostages captured by Hamas-led militants in an attack on southern Israel just over two years ago weighs on every aspect of the country’s daily life.
Hostage posters and stickers are everywhere, from seaside promenades to rural bus stops, and many Israelis have worn yellow ribbons on their lapels, wrists, cars and yards for more than two years.
Weekly vigils and protests were held in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and 230 families in the northern Galilee, small communities like the Oel family’s hometown of Labon, banded together to help relatives of the hostages. Tens of thousands of people gathered to watch news of the liberation.
On Monday morning, the country erupted in jubilation as it was confirmed that the first group of 20 of the last surviving hostages still being held in Gaza had been transferred to the Red Cross as part of a cease-fire agreement.
long journey
Although the condition of the hostages was not immediately known, it was the first step in a long journey to recovery. Another 28 people believed to have died are scheduled to be released at a later date, and many Israelis feel the country will not begin to fully recover from its collective trauma until their bodies are also returned.
For observant Jews, Monday had a special meaning.
Both the October 7, 2023, attack and the release of the hostages coincided with Jewish celebrations of the holiday of Simchat Torah, which marks the beginning of a new annual cycle of scroll readings. It is one of the most joyful days in the Jewish calendar. Do a festival dance around the Torah .
The war started Hamas-led militants invade IsraelOn October 7, 2023, approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
Subsequent Israeli attacks have killed more than 67,600 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters, but says about half of the dead were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the United Nations and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimates of wartime casualties.
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Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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